At AdFarm we have three brand promises. One of those three promises, is building connections and utilizing them on behalf of our clients and the industry.

As I sat in my hotel room in Sacramento last Wednesday preparing for a meeting the following morning, I checked my Twitter account. There on my home page I saw a tweet from @JeffFowle that said something like “Just got to SAC. Going to BJ’s for a burger. Mtgs at CFBF 2morw”.  Jeff Fowle, a rancher from six hours north of Sacramento, was going to the same location as me for meeting the following morning. I did not know Jeff. But I have followed him on Twitter for a couple months and admired his advocacy for agriculture. I direct messaged him letting him know that I also was going to be at the California Farm Bureau in the morning and would like to meet him. He said he would be there by 8 AM and that we could meet prior to attending our separate meetings.

Sure enough, the next morning as our @adfarmtweets team pulled into the parking lot, I recognized Jeff Fowle walking into the building from his Twitter profile picture. We met in the lobby and did a brief video interview, talking about how he as a rancher in northern California is utilizing Twitter to get out a positive agriculture message, countering the negative messaging in the mainstream media and providing a primary source of information for the consumer from the pasture to the plate.

What was the most fun in meeting Jeff was that through social media I was able to build a connection to him and then meet him face to face.  He is now is a connection I have and can help tell his story.

You can hear it straight from Jeff here.

As a kid growing up in North Dakota, unless you attended a National FFA or 4-H event, or got to travel to a national tradeshow because one of your parents served on a board, you did not meet farmers and ranchers outside of your state or region. Today, technology has advanced so that I can connect with a rancher from over a thousand miles from my home through social media and know he is the same town and going to the same location as me. What an amazing connection builder.

AdFarm’s Director of Digital Strategy, Josh Lynse (@jlysne), saw my excitement yesterday morning in meeting Jeff and said  “Everyone has their ‘it’ moment where it all comes together and you understand how social media builds connections and this was your moment”. Indeed it was my moment.

Using social media to meet innovative and proactive farmers and ranchers is a connection builder that I will continue to tap into daily. Certainly not because I have extra time on my hands to be tweeting. But instead, because I believe in building connections and the importance of them.

I truly believe agriculture has a story to tell the world that needs to hear. Through social media I can now partner with people like Jeff Fowle to connect the world to the face of agriculture.

What connections has social media helped you make?